Registering a Side Business in Malaysia 2026: SSM's Real Fees, the Two Schemes That Make It Free, and the RM50,000 Line You Cross by Not Renewing
Registering a sole proprietorship with SSM costs RM30 a year if you trade under the name on your identity card and RM60 a year if you want a business name. That is the whole fee. Two official schemes reduce it to nothing, one for B40 recipients and full-time students, one for OKU cardholders, and only the second of the two also covers renewal. The part that catches people is at the other end: continuing to trade after the certificate expires is an offence under the Registration of Businesses Act 1956 carrying a fine of up to RM50,000, up to two years in prison, or both. Every figure here was read off SSM's own fee table and guideline documents on 6 September 2026. Re-checked and extended on 9 September against SSM's Responsibility of Business Owner sheet, which adds the parts the fee table does not: the same RM50,000 also applies to never registering in the first place, there are RM10,000 and RM2,000 tiers below it, and the rung between RM60 and a RM1,000 Sdn Bhd is a PLT at RM500.
